Monday // Aug 27 :: 2 Corinthians 4

I'm struck by the first words of chapter 4 ... they tie right back to the end of chapter 3 which says, "As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more." Then Pauls next words in chapter are "since God ... has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up."

We never give up becoming more and more like Him.
We never give up turning from sin and wreckless living.
We never give up reaching out to others and reaching up to Him for mercy.
We never give up reflecting His image everyone around us.

I believe that our understanding of Christ's mercy is best seen when we realize that God is the one that has ALLOWED us to see it. Verses 3-6 show us that Satan is trying to block our view of Christ but it's the Lord who can take that "veil" away.

Renewal. Verse 16 says that even though our bodies are getting weaker, our spirit is being renewed everyday. I find this interesting because as I observe many who are aging in the faith, it seems they often become more synical and narrow focused. If our spirits are being renewed everyday, then our faith would only seem to get more and more refined as we age.

My body feels like it's getting older quicker. I ran 6 miles today. Furthest I've ever run in my life. Since the 5K I ran at the end of July, I've decided to run further distances. I've done 4 a couple times, and nearly 5 the other day. It was great running with Corbin, too. He parked his bike at the Sleepy Hollow pet cemetary (as they were burying a dog) and he ran from there to the M6 tunnel and back. He definately seems to enjoy running and I believe he is impressed by his old dad doing this. Some day he'll beat me at it ... I'll enjoy it while I have the upper hand. Tammy ran today, too. She's done really well with it. If we could get out more consistantly, I think it's something we could enjoy together.